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2. Attempts to tell grocery staff that they are selling a potentially dangerous food will just make you frustrated. Either you get the stoner stock boy that just grunts at you and thinks you’re crazy, or you get the (significantly more annoying) organic veggie queen that will argue with you that the green makes the potatoes healthier.

URG.

Anyway. If you’re interested, potatoes, tomatoes, and a bunch of other plants are grouped together in the Solanaceae, a family of plants that are both yummy…and toxic.

Here’s some representative members, and links to info about their toxicity:

These toxins are sometimes useful, too, of course. Many human drugs are derived from this group of plants–atropine and scopalamine are two that have been known for some time.

Because the green tissues of these plants tend to be toxic, usually the insects that eat them are specially adapted to their plant hosts. Tobacco and Tomato Hornworms are two good examples of specialized herbivores that feast on Solanaceae. They usually just poop out the toxins.

I was experimenting with getting my protein source from beans instead of meat so I set a pot of kidney beans to soak/cook. I didn’t test to make sure they were fully cooked before adding a spice mixture to the concoction. My first warning should have come from the first bowl I had, when the beans were still a little crunchy but they tasted good. By my second bowl I didn’t feel well and I went to lay down. The next three days I was so nauseous I wished I could thrown up. Lesson learned. I won’t eat anything raw I haven’t had raw before. Same with green potatoes.

It’s always fun to be reminded of all the foods that are related to Belladonna and Nightshade. I’ve known people with sensitivities to the Solanaceae family, so I’ve had to memorize some of those before.

And there are lots of reasons to find raw food advocates aggravating. Their misunderstanding of actual toxicities is just one.

I do have some sympathy for the shop staff. They probably get a lot of nutters coming to them with tales of all the toxic veg in their store—just as I get earnest, well-meaning people emailing me to warn of the dangers of eating many of the vegetables I grow. So it’s hardly surprising that store staff shrug off warnings that are much more realistic.

Sorry, Kate, that’s incorrect. The toxin remains a toxin regardless of age of the person eating it!
The relative dose/weight relationship, however, does make it more likely that children will be most affected.